1. Cherokee, creek, chickasaw
4.2 Analyze religious beliefs, customs, and various folklore traditions of the Cherokee, Creek, and Chickasaw, including: *Principal Chief 
 * Beloved Woman * maternal designations 

Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, Mississippians
created by Patricia McNair

2. Terms to Know
Principal Chief: the head of a Native American tribe (over all clans)
Beloved Woman: highly revered in the Cherokee culture & also the only woman to participate in war decisions
Maternal designations: Clans were determined by the family a child’s mother was from, not the father’s.

3. Location
The Cherokee, Creek, & Chickasaw resided in the Southeastern United States.

4. Who are Native Americans?
They are America’s first people.
Video of the last of the Sioux Nation

5. Cherokee Indians

6. Cherokee Indians’ CUSTOMS
Religion
Worshipped nature, especially the Sun
Upper World (protective human & animal spirits)
Underworld (evil spirits)
Middle World (earth where humans lived)

7. Cherokee Indians’ CUSTOMS
Divided into Clans
Sequoyah wrote the 1st Cherokee alphabet.
Trail of Tears: Over 4,000 Cherokee died when they were forced to leave their homes to live in Oklahoma. (map)
Men: hunt, fight, make political decisions
Women: farm, keep children & property, make social decisions
Beloved Woman: Nancy Ward
Trail of Tears: the Native Americans were taken from Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee

8. Cherokee Indians’ FOLKLORE
Nearly all of the folklore from all Native Americans dealt with animals.
Read a traditional Cherokee story about the possum's tail.
The possum once had a beautiful tail. But because he bragged about it all the time, the other animals decided to teach him a lesson. They invited him to a beauty contest, but secretly shaved his tail bare. When all the animals laughed at him, the possum was so embarrassed that he fell down and pretended to be dead, which he does to this day. He lost his beautiful tail because he bragged too much.
Other Stories

9. Creek Indians

10. Creek Indians’ CUSTOMS
Religion
monotheistic tribe, believing in a god they called the One.
believed in people having 2 souls

11. Creek Indians’ CUSTOMS
Divided into Clans
Sold other Indians as slaves
Corn was their main source of food
Trail of Tears: Over 3,500 Creek died when they were forced to leave their homes to live in Oklahoma.
Men: hunt, fight, led storytelling
Women: farm, kept children, led storytelling

12. Creek Indians’ FOLKLORE
Read a traditional Creek story about the possum's tail. (same as Cherokee)
The possum once had a beautiful tail. But because he bragged about it all the time, the other animals decided to teach him a lesson. They invited him to a beauty contest, but secretly shaved his tail bare. When all the animals laughed at him, the possum was so embarrassed that he fell down and pretended to be dead, which he does to this day. He lost his beautiful tail because he bragged too much.
Creek Mythology

13. Chickasaw Indians

14. Chickasaw Indians’ CUSTOMS
Religion
Believed in the Cloud, Sun, Clear Sky, & the One Who Lives in the Sky

15. Chickasaw Indians’ CUSTOMS
Divided into Clans
Trail of Tears: Over 400 Chickasaw died when they were forced to leave their homes to live in Oklahoma.
Men: hunt, fight, had shaved heads with a little hair at top
Women: farm, keep children & property

16. Chickasaw Indians’ FOLKLORE
Read a traditional Chickasaw story.
Legends/HowtheDeerGotHisHorns-Cherokee.html

17. Let’s see what you know??? *Choose your answer with your Plickers.
FREE for teachers at plickers.com. Set up class. Print cards. Download app on iphone or ipad to scan cards.

18. (1) Which culture(s) had a “Beloved Woman” in each clan?

19. (1) Which culture(s) had a “Beloved Woman” in each clan?
the Cherokee
the Creek
the Chickasaw
Both A & C

20. (2) What similarity(ies) did each of the tribes have alike?

21. (2) What similarity(ies) did each of the tribes have alike?
They all had clans.
They all had a “Beloved Woman.”
They all experienced the “Trail of Tears.”
Both A & C

22. (3) Who developed an alphabet for his people to preserve their history?

23. Creek Sequoyah Andrew Jackson Both B & C
(3) Who developed an alphabet for his people to preserve their history?
Creek
Sequoyah
Andrew Jackson
Both B & C

24. Good References
ral/TheTraditionalBeliefSystem.aspx Make this into a Bingo game using the following site: